OAKLAND — Alameda County leaders are anticipated to vote Tuesday on whether or not to switch a sale of one of many East Bay’s most vital properties, the Oakland Coliseum, to a gaggle of personal builders seeking to construct a brand new megaplex there.
If authorized, the county’s authentic deal in 2019 to promote its Coliseum possession stake to the Oakland A’s will as a substitute be re-assigned to a enterprise entity fashioned by the African American Sports activities and Leisure Group, or AASEG.
The A’s had agreed to switch their still-pending acquisition of the location to AASEG for $125 million almost a yr in the past, however lengthy negotiations with county officers have dragged on this stage of the event deal, months previous when the patrons promised it will wrap up.
The county vote, set for subsequent Tuesday, may lastly transfer the sale ahead, permitting AASEG to accumulate the county’s 50% curiosity within the 112-acre website.
AASEG is anticipated to finish its fee to the A’s by the top of subsequent January, earlier than paying off excellent bonds on the Coliseum website the next month and shutting escrow “on or before June 30, 2026,” per county paperwork.
County officers didn’t reply Friday to requests for touch upon the upcoming vote.
African American Sports activities and Leisure Group founder and managing member Ray Bobbitt speaks throughout a press convention on the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. Town has has offered its 50% possession share of the Coliseum to AASEG for $125 million. (Jane Tyska/Bay Space Information Group)
If the three-party negotiations between the county, the A’s and AASEG weren’t difficult sufficient, the town of Oakland additionally wants to shut its personal take care of the event group.
Income from the town’s $125 million sale of its half-ownership stake had as soon as been deliberate as a one-time repair for Oakland’s monetary troubles — a Hail Mary transfer by ex-Mayor Sheng Thao that AASEG’s leaders now say they felt pressured to associate with.
In April, the Metropolis Council bailed on making an attempt to cram the land deal into its fiscal calendar, opting as a substitute to shut the sale by the top of June 2026, to align the land switch with the county’s personal escrow interval.
Mayor Barbara Lee, who was elected in April to switch Thao following the previous mayor’s removing from workplace through a recall, mentioned Friday in an announcement she “recognizes the Coliseum as a key part of Oakland’s history and future.”
“As the sale moves forward, we’re committed to ensuring it remains a space where the community can come together for years to come,” Lee mentioned, “while recognizing that the economic benefits are important to residents of the surrounding communities.”
“This is a complex transaction,” Councilmember Ken Houston mentioned at an April assembly. “Things come up, and you’re dealing with two different governmental agencies. But it’s moving forward.”
When completed, the builders plan so as to add housing, retail, eating places, a resort and a few form of skilled sports activities attraction to the property, probably razing the stadium whereas holding the world intact.
San Francisco Unicorns’ Jake Fraser-McGurk (33) and Finn Allen (16) have a good time a six towards the Washington Freedom throughout the inaugural Main League Cricket opener on the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Space Information Group)
Closed-door negotiations between county officers and AASEG had been difficult by a neighborhood nonprofit’s lawsuit over the county’s authentic, $85 million sale to the A’s.
The group, Communities for a Higher Surroundings, alleged that the 2019 deal had uncared for the state Surplus Lands Act, which requires that out there public land first be thought-about for housing improvement earlier than the rest.
With an approval vote Tuesday by the county supervisors, the nonprofit would conform to completely dismiss its go well with. AASEG does plan to construct housing on the website, a proportion of it affordably priced.
A 3rd-party consulting agency employed by the county additionally discovered that AASEG’s deliberate redevelopment would enhance property tax income generated on the website by greater than 15%.
Angela Scott, an organizer with Communities for a Higher Surroundings, affirmed in a earlier assertion the group’s “trust that AASEG will make good on its commitment to developing the land for the benefit of all Oaklanders.”
AASEG is greatest identified for its public face, Ray Bobbitt, who leads a gaggle of different Black, Oakland natives in representing the challenge domestically.
Followers run alongside the bleachers with the Oakland Roots flags throughout the residence opener towards the San Antonio FC on the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Space Information Group)
The deal will primarily be financed by the funding agency Loop Capital, whose principal Jim Reynolds, is the signatory on official transaction paperwork revealed by the town and county.
The broader AASEG coalition consists of extra specialised officers: sports activities agent Invoice Duffy, native real-estate developer Alan Dones and former Oakland Metropolis Supervisor Robert Bobb.
Maybe the crown jewel of the East Bay’s wealthy sports activities historical past, the Coliseum has descended into blight and decay over the many years, culminating in Oakland’s lack of its three main skilled franchises — the Raiders, Warriors and A’s.
The sector nonetheless hosts a few of the nation’s high stay acts, its income solely climbing in recent times. And the stadium has seen sparks of life, internet hosting the Oakland Roots soccer franchise and drawing spectacular attendance final month for a collection of home cricket matches.
